One year following the events of "Tim and Clarisse Part I"

Ellie sat on the couch with Winston, wearing red and blue pajamas. On a table in front of her was over twenty pieces of paper.

The cold winter air outside barely infiltrated to the warm indoors. Aside from the creaking caused by the wind, there was no other sound in the house. Ellie was alone.

Ellie picked up the piece of paper that had been blank for over a year. Names… Names…

Ellie scratched Winston behind his ears again. "I could name it after you, but… I don't think I want that story told over and over again."

The dog licked Ellie's hand.

Ellie leaned back and continued talking to the dog. "I could name it after my mom, but… no."

Ellie set the paper down and leaned forward again. She heard the front door open and didn't look up, assuming she knew who it was.

"We're you merciful to Joel in chess tonight?" Ellie asked.

"The kid has no mercy to give when it comes to that game," Joel answered.

Ellie looked up in surprise. "I thought you were sticking around at Tommy's for a while."

"Well, Tim and Jeff called us to the south side of the Wall," Joel said, taking off his boots and coat. "We have another couple residents for Jackson. There's a girl. She's nine. Her name is Lin."

"Did she come with anyone?" Ellie asked with concern.

"Her dad," Joel said. "He seems like an honest guy. His wife… I guess she's out of the picture."

"Sucks that we rarely get a full family," Ellie said. She forced herself to speak cheerfully. "Well, at least Lin can be safe now. And she can hang with people her age. Old people get boring."

"I'd be nice when it comes to talking about the older people," Joel replied, sitting down in a chair across from her. "You'll be there soon enough."

"Nope," Ellie said simply. "I'm stopping at twenty-six."

"Good luck with that," Joel grunted. He looked at the papers on the table between them. "What's all this?"

"Nothing," Ellie lied.

Joel looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

Ellie sighed. Had to come out eventually. Especially since I'm almost ready. "That project that I've mentioned the last couple years…"

Joel leaned back. "That foundation you wanted to set up."

"Want," Ellie corrected. "Want to set up. I'm almost ready."

"Almost?" Joel said in surprise as he sat up again, staring at all the papers. He looked at Ellie again. "This is… serious. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Ellie said, growing slightly frustrated. "I know it's serious. And it's a serious that doesn't require me to beat the shit out of someone or show off my bite."

"Are you sure you can handle this?" Joel pressed. He looked away. "We both know you can have a temper and—"

"You're going to talk to me about my temper?" Ellie almost snapped. "Joel… I want to do this. I feel like someone needs to do this."

"But why does it have to be you?" Joel asked, turning back to her.

Ellie leaned forward. "Why are you so against this Joel? And don't tell me that it's about my temper. Because we both know I'm a lot different than I was when you first met me."

Joel nodded. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his beard, speaking calmly. "Ellie you've been back for almost three years. You've been safe. You haven't had to worry about what's out there."

"That doesn't mean that the world out there doesn't exist," Ellie countered. "And whether anyone wants to admit it or not, the fact is that world out there is still hurting people here in Jackson."

"I've noticed," Joel said. He lowered his voice. "I'm afraid that you're going to open up old wounds… and not just yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ellie asked.

"The people here are good," Joel said slowly.

"I know," Ellie said. "If I didn't think they were, I wouldn't have come here in the first place."

"I wasn't finished," Joel said.

Ellie remained silent.

Joel continued. "The people in Jackson are good. That's why Jackson works. But… there's a lot that everyone holds in under the surface. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I know that everyone has their demons," Ellie said, calmer now. "You, Matthew… me. We all have them. I'm not afraid of what I may see or hear. I've probably seen and heard the worst of it already."

"If that's what you think," Joel said, almost sternly. "Then you are definitely not ready for this."

Ellie opened her mouth to answer. She shook her head and grabbed the largest pile, tossing it on the table in front of Joel, speaking firmly. "I've seen and heard enough."

Joel slowly reached forward and picked up the papers that Ellie had made over the course of a year in a half. They contained everything that Ellie had seen, heard about, or thought of.

Joel shook his head sadly and dropped the papers. After a minute of silence, Joel shook his head again. "When exactly are you planning on starting this?"

Ellie gulped. "Next week."

"Next—" Joel said. He leaned forward. "How exactly are you going to get this together in a week? Where are you going to do this? What—"

"Give me a little credit," Ellie said quickly. She gathered up the papers. "I've been getting ready for this a long time. Look."

Joel sighed and grabbed the paper Ellie offered him. "The Foundation" was written across the top of the paper. Below was a handwritten note by Ellie, explaining what the purpose of "The Foundation" was and where to come to attend and at what time.

"I've got this all planned out," Ellie said, speaking before Joel could object. "Matthew and Tim are helping me clean the old bar up and get chairs and shit. Heather found this old machine in her house that can make copies of this paper and then we're going to put them up around town. Joey even said he'd help out."

"Joey," Joel said irritably, setting down the paper. "Tim, Heather, the kid… Is there anyone in Jackson who didn't find out about this before me?"

"I was going to tell you…" Ellie said, unsure of how to answer. "I really was because I wanted—"

"Ellie," Joel said holding up a hand. He stopped speaking. After a few seconds, he stood and looked at the clock. He took a deep breath. "Look, it's late. How about we finish this in the morning."

"Avoiding it?" Ellie said, standing and folding her arms. "That's the fucking route we're taking here? I thought we were passed that."

"Obviously not," Joel said. "Since I'm just finding out about this now."

"I didn't mean for that to happen," Ellie insisted. "I just wanted it to be ready before I—"

"So that nobody could stop you before you started," Joel completed.

"Well," Ellie said. "If that was what I was trying to do, and it wasn't by the way, maybe I would have been right. Especially since you're not even listening to me."

"We'll finish this tomorrow," Joel said firmly. He turned and moved toward the stairs.

"Listening was always your problem here," Ellie said without thinking. She looked down, regretting what she said instantly.

The was a brief, tense silence.

"Maybe," Joel finally admitted. He continued up the stairs.

Ellie sat down on the couch in frustration. She shook her head and started to gather up the papers on the table as Matthew walked in the front door.

Matthew quickly closed the door behind him and let out a breath, taking off his boots and his coat.

Ellie continued gathering the papers.

"It is freezing out there," Matthew exclaimed. He made eye contact with Ellie for a moment before she looked away. Matthew took a step forward. "All of a sudden, it feels a lot colder in here. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Ellie said, refusing to look up.

"Nothing…" Matthew said, hanging up his coat. "Right. So, is this the sort of 'nothing' that you'll tell me about later, or the sort of 'nothing' that I should take as 'nothing' and never speak of again?"

"Nothing," Ellie said.

Matthew raised his hands in surrender and walked passed Ellie, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ellie put her hand his for a moment before releasing the contact. "I'll be there in a bit," she promised.

"We're still cleaning out the bar and everything, right?" Matthew said.

"Yup," Ellie grunted.

Ellie finished cleaning up and went into the bedroom.

Matthew was standing by the door with a sleeping bag in his hands.

Despite herself, Ellie laughed. "Relax," she said. "I'm not mad at you."

Matthew let out a dramatic breath of relief before using the bathroom to get dressed for bed. Ellie did the same in the bedroom. A few minutes later, they laid on the bed with their eyes shut. Ellie rolled over several times before sighing.

Matthew grunted. "The talk with Joel went that well, huh?"

"More like an argument," Ellie said quietly.

"How bad?"

Ellie thought for a moment. "Bad enough that we shouldn't leave it until tomorrow," she said, sitting up. She stood and glanced at Matthew. "Thanks for listening."

"No problem."

Ellie stood and left the room. She walked up the stairs and slowly pushed open the door. Joel was still awake reading a book. Ellie moved forward and sat down on the floor next to the bed, leaning up against his bedside table.

"I'm sorry I kept this thing from you for so long," Ellie said finally.

Joel took a deep breath and placed his book on the table. "You didn't keep it from me," he said. "Not really. I never asked. I took what you did talk about for granted. I should know by now how determined you can get when you set your mind to something."

Ellie closed her eyes before speaking. "When we came back here," she said carefully, turning so that her head was against his bed. "I promised myself that… I promised myself that I would still find something that can help… whoever's left."

Ellie felt Joel's hand in her hair, stroking it softly.

Ellie sighed and opened her eyes. "The truth is… I didn't keep you up to date on this because I was afraid that you would somehow convince me not to do it."

"You knew I'd try to stop you," Joel said. There was no anger in his voice.

"I knew you were the only one who could," Ellie replied.

Joel removed his hand from her hair. "I understand why you didn't want to tell me," he said after a short silence. "And to tell you the truth… well, when it comes to talking about everything we've been through, I haven't exactly been an open individual."

Ellie turned looked him in the eye. "Joel, I really want to do this."

"I know, Ellie," Joel said. He closed his eyes. "I'm not going to stop you."

"Thank you," Ellie said. She sat there for a moment. Ellie took a deep breath. "I wanted to ask you something else."

"What's that?" Joel asked.

"Would you come? To my first meeting?"

"I'll be there," Joel said immediately. He opened his eyes. "It's my job to keep you safe. Even in Jackson."

"I'm not going to convince you talk, am I?" Ellie said with a hint of regret.

Joel didn't answer.

Ellie stood, walked to the door, and stopped. "Goodnight, Joel."

"Goodnight, kiddo."

Ellie returned to the bedroom and joined Matthew in bed.

"Better?" Matthew said as Ellie pulled the blankets over herself.

"Much," Ellie said.

"You nervous about the first meeting?" Matthew asked.

"I'll tell you afterwards."

"I wish I had your courage," Matthew commented. "I'm sorry I won't be there."

Ellie turned and poked his side. "Liar. You offered to take an all day shift the same day as the first meeting. The only reason you didn't take the night shift too is because Maria finally cut you off again."

"Like I said," Matthew grunted, intertwining his index finger with hers. "Courage is not my strong suit. Just… be careful."

"I'm not a little girl," Ellie groaned. "What is it with the you and Joel always trying to protect me?"

"Because you're worth it," Matthew answered.

Ellie smiled and closed her eyes, falling asleep with her hand intertwined with his.

…

Ellie spent the next week traversing Jackson, preparing for the first meeting. She felt nervous every day but refused to let it stop her.

A few days before the meeting, Ellie enlisted help to clean up the bar.

"Okay," Ellie said, looking around the bar almost eleven hours later. "It looks good."

The bar was now cleared of extra debris, it was relatively clean, and it was significantly less dusty than it had been that morning. The back office was also cleaned in hopes that Ellie would use it later.

"I hope so," Tim said in reply to Ellie's approval. He accepted a water bottle from Matthew. "I don't think I've ever coughed so much in my life."

"Oh, come on," Ellie said, throwing a scrap paper towel in a garbage bin. "It wasn't that dusty."

"Really?" Matthew asked. He shook out his sweater and waved his hands to disperse the dust cloud. "I think it was pretty dusty."

Ellie looked around. "It's cleaned!" she said excitedly. She looked at Tim and Matthew. "But seriously. Thanks. I don't suppose you guys will come to the first meeting."

"Not my scene," Matthew replied.

"Mine either," Tim said lamely. "Besides, if I come, Clarisse will want to come and…"

"Yeah," Ellie said with a shrug. "I get it. She doesn't need to hear this stuff anyway. How's she doing? I've spent so much time getting this together that I haven't seen her much."

"She's good," Tim answered. "She's actually been hanging out with that new girl we picked up last Monday."

"Lin? I still haven't met her," Ellie said regretfully.

"It's good Clarisse has found a friend," Matthew said.

"Hey!" Ellie exclaimed.

"A friend her age," Matthew clarified.

"Better," Ellie said, folding her arms.

"He does have a point about the age thing," Tim said. He sat down on one of the stools. "I never really noticed it, but Clarisse didn't talk about any of the other kids at school. She never said anything about not having friends."

"She's always seemed happy," Ellie assured him.

"I still feel like I should have noticed," Tim said.

"You're her brother," Matthew said. "Not her father. It's not your job to know everything about her. You're doing fine."

"Anyway," Tim said, standing up. "I'm gonna have to get going. I guess a pipe exploded at the Coven's place and there's water everywhere. I'll see you around."

"Thanks for the help," Ellie called as Tim exited the building. She looked at Matthew. "I can only hope that I'll be as good at talking to other people as you are talking to Tim."

"You already are," Matthew said.

"I guess we'll find out," Ellie said. She looked out the window at the sun. "The sun's gonna set soon and I still got to stop off at Heather's to grab the posters. I'll see you at home."

"Alright," Matthew answered. "Tell Heather and Joey I said 'hi'."

Ellie quickly moved through the streets of Jackson until she reached Heather's house.

After a nervous sigh, Ellie knocked on the door several times before entering. "Hello?"

"We're in here," Joey called from Heather's kitchen.

Ellie smiled and took off her boots before walking down the hall. "I'm not going to walk in on anything, am I?"

"Give it a rest," Heather said as Ellie entered the kitchen.

"Don't worry," Joey said to Heather, giving Ellie a nod of greeting. "In a few days, she'll have someone else's life to pry into."

"Just looking out for my friends," Ellie said, ignoring the comment. She lowered her voice. "One day, though…"

"Friend?" Heather said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm touched. It's a lot better than 'bitch'."

"Oh please," Ellie said, tossing her coat on a chair. "You hit me in the face with a snowball. Besides, I got you back. And I'm over it."

"My aim was a little off," Heather grumbled. "I was aiming for your chest. Besides, that can't be as bad breaking Maria's window."

"You heard about that…" Ellie said lamely. She shrugged. "I was young and my aim was off too."

"Not that you had to deal with my mom," Joey said as he shoved relatively clean paper they had found into a tray attached to the copier in front of him. He turned to Ellie. "I'm pretty sure that the only one who believed me when I said I wasn't the one who threw the snowball was Uncle Joel. I used to be a pretty truthful person before you came along, Ellie."

"You lied to Maria?" Heather asked Ellie.

Ellie whistled innocently as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the poster she wanted to copy and placed it in the copier.

"You think this will work?" Heather asked Joey as he closed the paper tray on the copier.

"I think I set it up right," Joey said.

"Here goes nothing," Ellie said as she pushed a green button on the copier.

A few minutes later, after an awkward moment when Ellie realized she'd placed the poster in upside down, she was shoving fifty posters inside her backpack.

"Thanks again," Ellie said. She yawned. "Well, I'm pooped so I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"'Night," Heather said.

"I'll walk with you," Joey said, unplugging the copier. "If I get home late for dinner five days in a row and I don't have company, my mom's going to kill me."

Ellie opened her mouth to make a quick-witted comment but fell silent in confusion when Joey gave her a peculiar look.

Arata came into the room and hissed at Joey and Ellie before nudging up against Heather's feet.

"Yeah, whatever," Joey said to the cat, grabbing his coat from a chair. "I'm leaving."

"She'll warm up to you eventually," Heather said.

"I scruffed the thing and threw it in a box," Joey grunted. "I doubt it."

Heather chuckled and glanced at Ellie. "You, probably not. She hates you."

"I don't care much for the little bitch either," Ellie said, earning another hiss from the cat is it left the room.

"Well, technically, a 'bitch' is a female dog," Joey said.

"Where the hell do you learn this stuff?" Heather asked.

"Let's just say that my mother wouldn't allow me to swear unless I knew what the words actually meant," Joey said, looking away as his face went red.

"Maybe you should just leave the awesome comments to me," Ellie said, yawning again. She punched Joey on the shoulder. "Are you coming or not, cuz pretty soon, I'm going to pass out."

"I'm coming," Joey said.

They turned and started walking down the hallway.

"See you tomorrow morning at seven," Ellie called to Heather.

"Yup," Heather replied.

"'Night, Heather," Joey said.

"'Night, Joey."

Ellie and Joey exited the house and started walking home.

Ellie opened her mouth to say something.

"Don't," Joey said before she should say a word. He shook his head. "Just don't."

"Don't what?" Ellie asked.

Joey shook his head.

Ellie sighed dramatically. "Okay… what is it?"

Joey waited until a group of people passed them before replying. "I'm going to ask you to do something that's really hard for you."

"Fight my addiction to caffeinated beverages in small cans?" Ellie offered.

"How about you stop making comments about things that aren't happening and aren't going to happen," Joey grumbled.

"What?" Ellie asked. She looked behind them. "Oh. You and Heather? Why? I just think—"

"I don't think you're exactly the best matchmaker as it is," Joey interrupted, clearly frustrated now. "I mean, with how many people asked you out the first three years you were here, I didn't exactly notice you leaping into someone's arms at the first…"

Joey's voice trailed off as Ellie looked away from him.

Joey sighed. "Sorry. That was over line. I just… well, now that I've pissed you off, there's no point."

Ellie and Joey remained silent until they neared home.

Ellie sighed as well. "I didn't know stuff like that bothered you."

"They didn't used too," Joey said, calmer now. "Maybe it was a lack of opportunity."

"You don't have to tell me about lack of opportunity," Ellie said with a small smile, shoving him lightly. She placed her hands in her pockets. "But why can't you and Heather at least try—"

Joey stopped walking. "Look, she and I come from way different worlds. That, and she's like two years older than me, and—"

Ellie burst out laughing. "Okay. First of all, you're eighteen and she's twenty. Not a big fucking deal. Second…" she caught herself and stopped speaking for a short time. She turned serious. "I won't even ask you for a reason why you can't. But don't give me bullshit."

They walked the rest of the way to the houses in silence. As Ellie turned to go into her house, Joey stopped. Ellie looked to either side of the street before walking back to him.

Joey looked at the ground as he spoke. "Before you came here… I'd like to think I had friends, but… people tended to keep their distance. You know, my parents ran things I guess that kind of scared people or something."

"What made me different?" Ellie asked, folding her arms.

Joey looked up. "You just didn't give a shit about any of that."

"Maybe I'm just a good actress."

"Another one of the many ways we're different," Joey said.

Ellie nodded. "So, where are we going with this?"

Joey took a deep breath. "When you left, I spent the entire morning thinking that I'd lost the only person who accepted me for me. Even though you hated me half the time."

"I'm still waiting," Ellie said, urging him to get to the point.

"I'm an open book," Joey said spreading his arms before letting them fall to his sides. "You, Heather, Matthew, Tim, even Clarisse. You all have a lot more experiences than I've ever had. I can't understand Heather's world. That world."

"You haven't tried," Ellie commented. "Not really."

"I don't think I should," Joey argued. "Heather's the only friend I've had who I feel really understands me. If it can't work or I fuck up… I don't want to lose that."

"You're scared that one issue between you two would result in the ultimate destruction of your lives?" Ellie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that would suck, I guess."

"You left because you were mad at Uncle Joel," Joey said. "And you found Matthew. Can you really tell me, that at any point when you were out there, you wouldn't do anything to keep that trust you and Matthew had from being broken? From losing that trust?"

Ellie looked away and thought back to her time with Matthew.

"I guess not," Ellie admitted. She looked at Joey. "You're pretty smart for a dumb kid sometimes."

Joey shrugged. "You still didn't answer my original question."

"I'll stop," Ellie assured him. She patted him on the shoulder and spoke as she turned away. "Just make sure that you don't wait too long if you ever come to your senses. Otherwise, someone else will beat you to it."

"Like who?" Joey asked.

Ellie smiled at the small concern in his voice. She turned and put her hands in the air. "Well… you know. Me for starters. If only to teach you a lesson. I mean, that could get a little awkward between Matthew and me, but it'll be worth it."

Joey shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Ellie stuck out her tongue and put her hand on the doorknob.

"Can I offer some advice?" Joey asked.

Ellie pretended to think deeply, stroking her chin. "Well, that's officially going to be my job in a few days and I wouldn't think it would be your strongest talent, but… what the hell? Why not. Shoot."

"Despite the fact that it can be your most annoying quality at times," Joey began, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Your smartass comments do have a way of breaking the ice as long as you don't overdo it."

Ellie nodded in acknowledgment. "Thanks. Goodnight."

"See you later," Joey said.

Ellie walked into the house and went straight to bed, falling asleep immediately.

…

Joel and Matthew sat at the kitchen table playing chess as Ellie entered the bedroom and closed the door.

Joel made his move with a sigh.

"You don't think this foundation thing is going to work out," Matthew said. It wasn't a question.

"I don't know," Joel admitted quietly. "What I do know is that Ellie's placing herself in a room with a group of people who've all been killers once upon a time."

"She's living with two people who were killers once upon a time," Matthew countered, moving a bishop.

"You would know who's coming better than I would," Joel continued, moving a knight. "She's told you everything since day one."

Matthew moved his queen out of harm's way. "She hasn't actually told me all that much. I mean, she mentioned it frequently enough. But I didn't really know how much she wanted to do it until last year. Either way, no matter how we feel about it, it's happening."

"Whether we like it or not," Joel grunted.

"Well, that's just the thing," Matthew said, cautiously moving his knight forward. "When Ellie sets her mind to something, there's not much hope in stopping her."

"And?" Joel pressed, knowing Matthew had more to say. He moved his king back a space.

"I don't know if this is going to work out," Matthew admitted. He grabbed a bishop and moved it. "But if it comes down to it, would you rather have Ellie doing this alone and unwilling to come to us because she doesn't feel we support her? Checkmate."

Joel examined the board for a moment and didn't reply. I wouldn't be the one she would turn to.

"Just remember," Matthew said. He glanced at the door to the bedroom and looked back Joel. "I wasn't the one she asked to be there to support her."

…

Ellie awoke early the next morning, got dressed in a simple flannel green shirt and blue jeans, grabbed the posters out of her bag, walked into the living room, and sat on the couch.

A few seconds later, Joel set down a plate of food down on the table in front of her. Ellie nodded her thanks and placed the posters on the table, moving the food to the arm of the couch. She ate a piece of apple and wiped her hand on her shirt

Joel sat down next to her on the couch, wearing a red flannel shirt and black pants. He placed his own food on the other arm of the couch before picking up half the posters and started separating them into three piles.

Ellie gave him a look of confusion.

"Three piles," Joel said, pointing to each stack as he spoke. "You. Joey. Heather."

Ellie nodded and grabbed the rest of the pile. She looked at Joel. "You want to make it four?" she asked.

Joel didn't reply. He started placing posters on each pile.

Ellie joined him. "You still don't want me to do this, do you?"

"You know the answer to that," Joel replied. He glanced at Ellie and gave her a half smile. "But I can't stop you. And… I shouldn't."

Ellie looked at the posters in her hand for a moment and continued to sort them. When Joel wasn't looking, she smiled in his direction.

A few minutes after they'd finished and Ellie had gotten dressed, there was a knock on the front door.

"That's probably Joey," Ellie said. She grabbed the posters that now had small napkins in between each pile. She looked at Joel. "I'll see you tonight."

"Take your coat," Joel said. "It's cold out there."

"Yeah, yeah…" Ellie said. She grabbed her coat, opened the door, and walked outside. "Thanks, Joel."

"See you tonight."

Ellie closed the door behind her and handed Joey a pile of posters. "Thanks, Joey."

"What no comment about my 'missing romantic partner'?" Joey said as she walked away.

"I got shit to do," Ellie replied. "And I keep my promises… unless I'm bored."

"Tell Heather I said 'hi'," Joey called as she walked away.

Ellie held up a thumb.

Joey called again. "You're making progress. I think about twenty seconds without a comment is the record."

Ellie held up her middle finger.

A while later, Ellie walked up to Heather's house as the other girl walked out the door. Heather zipped up her black coat over her blue jeans as Ellie reached out and handed her a pile of posters.

Heather looked at Ellie. "Ready?"

"For what?" Ellie asked as they walked down the street, placing a few posters on the occasional street pole and unused building.

"Friday," Heather said, handing a poster to a woman they passed on the street.

"I'm fine," Ellie insisted. "Geez, you're like Joel."

They walked along the perimeter of the Wall surrounding Jackson, taping up and distributing as much of the posters as they could.

"So… you're mad at Joel?" Heather asked as they were three fourths of the way around Jackson.

"Not really," Ellie admitted. She sighed. "I mean, he doesn't like it, but he did say he would come and he even helped me divide up the posters this morning."

"That's better than how you thought it would be last week when you told me you were going to ask him," Heather said.

"I guess," Ellie said with a shrug. She looked at Heather. "Why are you so interested anyway? I know you're not coming and that's fine because you know I'll listen to you anytime, but you're being kind of… pushy."

"Pushy!" Heather snorted. She laughed. "You really shouldn't be talking about pushy."

"I am exactly as pushy as I need to be," Ellie said, nudging Heather with her shoulder.

Heather nudged her back.

Ellie smiled as she handed another poster to a man who was walking past.

The man took the paper without even looking at it.

Ellie shook her head and looked at Heather. "I'm still waiting for an answer, by the way. Why does me being ready concern you so much?"

"When I was younger, I had to help out my mom a lot," Heather started to explain. She gulped. "The first time that I had to help her with a wound… I froze."

"I don't think I've ever seen you freeze," Ellie said as she stopped. She looked around before raising her sleeve. "You didn't even react to this."

Heather took a deep breath. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't think that Infected are the worst thing to come out of the outbreak," she said quietly.

"Before the first winter I had out there," Ellie said, lowering her sleeve. "I would have disagreed with you."

"Anyway," Heather said, making an obvious attempt to adopt a lighter tone as they continued walking. "When she was teaching me, my mother kept asking me if there was anything I needed to know. I insisted that there wasn't, and… I was lying. There was one thing that I had a question about. One thing. There was a low probability of it ever happening, but it did."

"What happened?" Ellie asked.

"Mom managed to fix it and the guy was fine until he got shot a few hours later," Heather said. She looked down. "The guy could have died because of me. I was old enough to know better than to let my… ego, pride, whatever, get in the way."

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "How old were you?"

"Nine."

"By Jackson standards, that's not that old," Ellie informed her.

"Well, you and I didn't grow up within Jackson's standards," Heather said with a sad smile. She stopped to place a poster on a street pole. "The point is, I chose not to ask the question and the man almost died."

"Heather, I don't plan on killing anybody," Ellie said with a laugh.

"Nerves kill," Heather said firmly. "I know talking about your nervousness isn't your strong suit, but I figured I'd give it a try."

"Well, thanks," Ellie said as they neared the shop. "But I don't need it."

They entered the shop and taped a few posters to the front desk and back wall before exiting. Heather moved to tape a poster on the front door as Ellie moved to the window.

A man walked toward the door. "Hey, Ellie."

Ellie looked up. "Hey, Don."

"What are you up to on this cold-ass day?" Don asked.

"Just putting up these posters," Ellie said, holding one out to him. "I'm trying to set up a… a place where people can get things off their chest. You know, make life easier. I'm just trying to help out."

"Interesting," Don said, glancing at the paper Ellie was still holding out.

A friend of Don's walked up to them and the two men entered the store without another word.

Ellie lowered her arm with the poster still in hand. She turned to the window and started to tape it up, swearing under her breath as she placed the poster on the window upside down.

"You okay?" Heather asked, walking forward and handing Ellie a piece of tape.

Ellie turned and leaned against the window. "You know all of those negative feelings you avoid because your so determined to get through something? They're supposed to happen right before the big event, but I guess they're deciding to show up a few days early."

"Negative feelings," Heather said, leaning against the window next to Ellie. "Such as?"

Ellie sighed. "What if I get all this shit set up and nobody sees any of it or everyone thinks it's just a joke?" she asked seriously.

"You don't think anybody's going to show?" Heather asked.

"That's what it feels like," Ellie grumbled.

"Well, I have an idea," Heather said, grabbing Ellie by around shoulder and walking her down the street. "In the unlikely event that nobody comes, you can just come over to my house. I'll break out the booze that I've been saving for the medical emergency that's never going to happen and you can get totally shit-faced."

"How would me being totally shit-faced help?" Ellie asked, laughing despite herself.

"You get to vent freely," Heather said simply. "And I get to see you drunk again, which will make it amusing for me."

"I might have to take you up on that," Ellie said. She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm good now. Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for," Heather said.

They saw Clarisse turn down the street ahead with another girl walking beside her.

Heather pointed to the pair. "You should meet Clarisse's friend. She's a little shy, but you're pretty good with kids. I'll go and see if can find a walkie-talkie to get an update on how Joey's doing and have Joel or Matthew get a hold of you."

"Bye," Ellie said to Heather.
Clarisse and the other girl reached Ellie a few seconds later.

"Hi, Clarisse," Ellie said with a smile.

"Hi, Ellie," Clarisse said. She shivered, drawing her pink jacket closer to her and rubbing her hands on her black jeans.

The other girl next to her was wearing a set of Clarisse's old clothes. She was a young Chinese girl with long raven colored hair that cascaded down her shoulders and over her blue eyes. She wore a pair of dark blue pants and dark blue jacket.

Ellie knelt and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Ellie. I'm a friend of Clarisse and her brother Tim."

"I'm Lin," the girl said, shaking Ellie's hand without hesitation. "My dad says that anybody who's friends with Tim and Clarisse can be my friend too."

"Your dad sounds smart," Ellie said with another smile.

"What do you have in your hand?" Clarisse asked Ellie.

Ellie realized that she was still holding her last poster for the Foundation. After a brief hesitation, Ellie shrugged and held out the paper. "Just some adult stuff. I'm trying to help people in Jackson."

"Can I try to read it?" Lin asked.

"Sure," Ellie said handing it to her. "Are you going to go to school with Clarisse?"

"I hope so," Clarisse answered for her. "It would be nice to have somebody to talk to."

"I hope so too," Lin said. She held the paper up to Clarisse and pointed at a word. Clarisse whispered something in Lin's ear and the other girl nodded.

Ellie smiled at the small exchange.

Lin looked at Ellie. "Can I take this?" the young girl asked. "My dad wants me to keep practicing my reading and I don't have any books yet."

"Knock yourself out," Ellie said, standing. "Just so you know, I also sponsor sleepovers anytime. So if you and Clarisse ever want to hang at my place, it's yours."

"Thank you," Lin said. "Mrs.… um."

"Just Ellie," Ellie said. "You two kiddo's have fun today. Make sure you show her the park, Clarisse."

"Okay," Clarisse said. She grabbed Lin's hand and the other girl gladly ran off with Clarisse, Ellie's poster still in hand.

Ellie smiled again as she watched Clarisse and Lin disappear.

Ellie heard somebody stop and stand behind her. She recognized who it was instantly and spoke without turning around. "You know, you were never very good at sneaking up on me."

"Yeah…" Tim said, moving to stand beside her. "Yeah, I remember the time I tried that. You almost shot me."

"You almost stabbed me," Ellie countered, turning to walk down the street. She glanced at him. "Good times, huh?"

"It was worth it," Tim said, turning to walk beside her. "Sorry I couldn't help out today. I've been… preoccupied."

"Watching out for your little sister?" Ellie asked.

Tim stopped walking for a moment.

Ellie laughed. "C'mon Tim. You've been telling Clarisse for years that she can be friends with anyone she wants. She's not exactly going to trust your faith if she catches you stalking her."

"I know," Tim said, slightly embarrassed. "I know, and I meant everything that I've ever told her, but… she's been my girl for so long that… Even though she just met Lin, I guess I'm a little…"

"Jealous?" Ellie completed.

"Maybe," Tim said thoughtfully. "I don't know. Maybe I'm overprotective."

"Well, jealousy I will never admit to knowing much about," Ellie said calmly. "But overprotective… Let's just say that I have experience losing people."

"It's because of you and Matthew that I didn't lose her," Tim said. He sighed. "I never thought that it would be hard to let her go in Jackson."

"Sometimes, letting people go is the best thing you can do for them," Ellie offered.

Tim didn't answer.

Ellie walked in front of Tim and stopped. "Maybe you need to hang out with people your age."

"I don't think—"

"Don't think," Ellie interrupted quickly. "This Saturday night. We'll find some place for Clarisse to hang out for a few hours. You come over to our house for dinner. Just adults. No kids allowed."

"I'm only fifteen," Tim said lamely. "I don't think that—"

"Stop," Ellie said, holding up her hand. "You have a job. Your raising your sister. You're an adult."

"Saturday," Tim said.

"Yeah," Ellie answered. "You both came here for a new life. Am I right?"

"I suppose," Tim said slowly.

"Good," Ellie said as her house came into sight. "See you Saturday."

"Okay," Tim said.

Ellie nodded and moved toward the door.

Tim called out. "Hey, good luck on Friday."

Ellie nodded again.